Proserpina to eat. The cook's made dishes and
artificial dainties were not half so delicious, in
the good child's opinion, as the simple fare to
which Mother Ceres had accustomed her. Won-
dering thrt he had never thought of it before,
the king now sent one of his trusty attendants,
with a large basket, to get some of the finest and
juiciest pears, peaches, and plums which could
any where be found in the upper world. Unfor-
tunately, however, this was during the time
when Ceres had forbidden any fruits or vegeta-
bles to grow; and, after seeking all over the
earth, King Pluto's servant found only a single
pomegranate, and that so dried up as to be not
worth eating. Nevertheless, since there was no
better to be had, he brought this dry, old, with-
ered pomegranate home to the palace, put it on
a magnificent golden salver, and carried it
up to Proserpina. Now, it happened, curiously
enough, that, just as the servant was bringing
the pomegranate into the back door of the palace.
our friend Quicksilver had gone up the front
steps, on his errand to get Proserpina away from
King Pluto.

As soon as Proserpina saw the pomegranate

[[263]]

p262 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p263w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p264

v?